Time-piece

ABSTRACT

A seconds hand setting mechanism comprising a seconds wheel, a power-driven gear-train for driving the seconds wheel, an axially movable winding stem, a setting lever actuated by the stem, a rocking lever actuated by the setting lever, a click carried by the rocking lever, a ratchet wheel operable by the click and capable of controlling the seconds wheel through a magnetic coupling independently of the gear train to advance or retard a seconds hand carried by the seconds wheel.

United States Patent Vuilleumier 1 Oct. 2, 1973 [5 1 TIME-PIECE1,244,252 10/1917 Sinbad 58/63 [751 lnventor: Cyril Vuilleumier, B1enne.66 urnsnnc 58/63 [7ST Assigneez Societe Suisse Pour LIndustrie HorlogereManagement Services S.A., Bienne, Switzerland 22 Filed: Jan. 15, 11973[21] Appl. No.: 323,459

52 U.S. c1. 58/63 [51] G04!) 27/02 [58] Field of Search.; 58/63, 855

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 379,833 4/1888 Terstegen58/63 1,244,251 10/1917 Sinbad 58/63 Switzerland Primary ExaminerGeorgeH. Miller, Jr. Attorney-Watson, Cole, Grindle & Watson [57] ABSTRACT Aseconds hand setting mechanism comprising a seconds wheel, apower-driven gear-train for driving the seconds wheel, an axiallymovable winding stem, a setting lever actuated by the stem, a rockinglever actuated by the setting lever, a click carried by the rockinglever, a ratchet wheel operable by the click and capable of controllingthe seconds wheel through a magnetic coupling independently of the geartrain to advance or retard a seconds hand carried by the seconds wheel.

7 Claims, 2 Drawing Figures TllME-PlECE This invention relates totime-pieces having a seconds hand.

An object of the invention is to provide a time-piece having meanswhereby the seconds hand can be stopped to correct an advance or beadvanced to correct a lag.

In the accompanying drawings:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of the seconds hand control mechanism in onepossible form of embodiment of a time-piece according to the invention;and

FIG. 2 is a partial view, in vertical cross-section, of this particularform of embodiment of the time-piece.

To render the drawings easier to follow, only those parts of thetime-piece that are necessary for an understanding of the invention havebeen shown.

The time-piece, as illustrated-in the drawings, comprises a winding stem1 on which are mounted, in

1 known manner, a crown wheel 2 and a sliding pinion 3.

The stem actuates a setting lever 4, pivotally mounted at 5, through theintermediary ofa pin 6, carried by the setting lever 4 and engaging in agroove 7 formed in the stem 1. The stem is here so arranged as to becapable of occupying three different axial positions each defined by theengagement of a pin 8, carried by the setting lever 4, in any one ofthree notches 9a, 9b and 90 made in a spring member 9. Further, the stemll may be moved-axially inwards to a fourth, unstable, position locatedbeyond the position where the pin 8 engages the notch 9a; the functionof this fourth position willbe explained later on.

When'the stem 1 is in its normal inner position, i.e., when the pin 8engages in the notch 9a, this being the winding position since thesliding pinion 3 meshes with the winding pinion 2, a beak 4a on thesetting lever 4 comes to bear against a stud 10 secured to one end of va monostable lever 11 rockably mounted on two fixed pins 12 and 13,extending into openings 14 and 15, respectively, formed in the settinglever. At the other end of the rockinglever 11 is secured a spring click16 in tended to cooperate with a ratchet wheel 17 formed, in the presentinstance, with 60 teeth. The rocking lever 11 is maintained in itsstable position, wherethe click spring 16 does not engage with thetoothing of the wheel 17, by a spring 18 which bears on the stud 10 onthe side opposite that on which the beak 4a of setting lever 4 comes tobear. The openings 14 and in the rocking lever 11 respectively have anelongated shape anda triangular shape to enable the rocking lever 11,.when moving from its stable position to its unstable position, toperform both a translatory motion and an angular motion.

The time-piece moreover comprises a gear-train hav ing a barrel, notshown, a centre or minutes wheel 19, partly shown without its staff, anintermediate wheel 20 with its pinion 21 and its staff 22, a secondswheel 23 with its pinion 24, and an escapement wheel 25 with its pinion26 and its staff 26a. The pinion 24 of the seconds wheel 23 is a drilledpinion, freely mounted on aspindle 27. It is held in place axiallyfirstly by a shoulder formed on a hub 28 secured to the lower portion ofthe spindle 27 and secondly by a thickened portion 27a of the spindlenear the upper end of the latter. On the hub 28 is fixed theratchet'wheel l7 and on the thickened portion 27a is fixed anotherseconds wheel 29. This other seconds wheel lies over the first secondswheel and meshes with a third seconds wheel 30, partially shown, whosestaff, not shown, is designed to carry :1 seconds hand, not shown.

The two seconds wheels 23 and 29 are drivingly associated by anon-positive coupling, here a magnetic cou pling consisting of twopermanent magnets 31 and 32, eachhaving sixty pairs of poles andrespectively secured to the wheel 23 and to the wheel 29. By nonpositivecoupling is meant a coupling which, in the case of a driving wheel andof a driven wheel, enables the driven wheel to slip in relation to thedriving wheel, as

i for example when the torque applied to the latter exceeds a givenvalue.

The above-described mechanism for controlling the seconds hand operatesas follows:

The various components of the mechanism normally occupy the positionshown in full lines in FIG. 1, with the winding stem 1 located in thewinding position, i.e., when the pin 8 of the setting lever 4 engages inthe notch of spring 9, and with the rocking lever 11 in its stableposition, i.e., when the pins 12 and 13 are in engagement with the edgesof the openings 14 and 15 under the thrust exerted by the spring 18 onthe stud 10. The latter, which is secured to the rocking lever 11,contacts the beak 4a of the setting lever 4 and the spring click 16 isclear of the toothing of the ratchet wheel 17. The seconds wheel 23 ofthe gear train drives the seconds wheel 29 through the intermediary ofthe magnetic coupling formed by the magnets 31 and 32, and hence theseconds wheel 30 whose staff carries the seconds hand.

Pressure on the winding button will cause axial inward displacement ofthe stem 1 from its winding position to the position indicated inphantom lines and hence an angular counter-clockwise displacement of thesetting lever 4 to the position indicated in phantom lines. During thisdisplacement of the setting lever 4, its beak 4a, which bears on thestud 10, causes the rocking lever 11 to move against the action of thespring 18 to the illustrated phantom line position. In so doing and byvirtue of the shape of the openings 14 and 15, the rocking lever lllsimultaneously performs a translatory movement and an angular movementcausing the spring click 16 to engage in the toothing of the ratchetwheel 15 and to cause the latter to turn in an anticlockwise directionby one step, thereby causing the seconds hand to move forward by onesecond in relation to its normal forward movement, By maintaining thepressure being exerted on the winding button against the action of thespring 18, the spring click 16 is held in engagement with the toothingof the ratchet wheel 17 thereby immobilising the latter and hence theseconds needle. This is made possible by the non positive couplingbetween the seconds wheels 29 and 23 which enables the latter to slip inrelation to the first and the gear train to continue rotating.

Thus when the seconds hand is slightly fast in relationto a referencesource (speaking clock, time signal, etc.), all the watch wearer need dois to apply pressure on the winding button and to maintain this pressureto stop the seconds hand for the required length of time to synchroniseit with the reference source. As soon as the winding button is released,all of the parts return to the initial position (indicated in fulllines) under the action of the spring 18 and the seconds wheel 29 andhence the wheel 30 and the hand secured to its staff can again be drivenby the gear train.

The application of pressure on the winding button causes, as indicatedabove, the spring click 16 to engage with the toothing of the ratchetwheel 17 and the latter to be moved forward by one step, correspondingto an advance of one second of the seconds hand in relation to itsnormal forward motion.

Thus, when the seconds hand is slightly lagging, all the watch wearerneed then do is rapidly to depress the winding button a number of timesto enable the seconds hand to catch up the lag and to be synchronisedwith the reference source.

In the illustrated and described form of embodiment, the seconds wheel30 whose staff is designed to carry the seconds hand is a center-wheel.It is driven by the gear train through the intermediary of the wheel 29which is magnetically coupled to the wheel 23 of the gear-train. The nonpositive coupling between this center seconds wheel 30 and the geartrain thus consists of the magnetic coupling between the gear-trainseconds wheel 23 and the intermediate seconds wheel 29. Clearly thisintermediate wheel 29 can be dispensed with when the relative positionof the gear-train and of the center seconds wheel is such that itenables a magnetic or any other non positive coupling to be fittedbetween the center seconds wheel and the gear-train secondswheel. Insuch a case, the ratchet wheel 17 would be secured to the spindle orstaff carrying the seconds hand. Further, in the illustrated form ofembodiment, which comprises an intermediate seconds hand, the ratchetwheel could be made fast with the staff designed to 'carry the secondshand, i.e., the staff, not shown, of the wheel 30; in such a case, themeans for controlling the ratchet wheel from the winding stem aresuitably adapted.

Various other modifications may be made to the above-described mechanismfor'controlling the seconds hand, in particular as regards the means forcontrolling the ratchet wheel. For example, instead of actuating theclick off the winding stem, the click could be actuated by another outercontrol member, such as a push-button for the purpose of advancing orretarding the seconds hand, as required, and to synchronize it with areference source.

I claim:

l. A time-piece comprising a power driven gear train, a seconds wheeldriven by said gear train and having a staff arranged to carry a secondshand, a non positive coupling between the gear train and said secondswheel, and a control mechanism for controlling the seconds hand via saidseconds wheel and including a ratchet wheel drivingly associated withsaid seconds wheel, a click arranged to cooperate with the ratchet wheeland externally operable click actuating means for causing the click tomove the seconds hand clock wise, via the ratchet wheel and the secondswheel, by a step additional to its normal motion, whereby at least onerapid operation of said means will cause the seconds hand to moveforward faster than its normal movement and a single prolonged operationof said means will cause the seconds hand to be held up and retarded.

2. A time-piece according to claim 1, wherein said click-actuating meanscomprise a control member located externally of the time-piece andarranged for displacement between a stable position and'an unstableposition, a monostable rocking lever carrying said click, an elasticelement acting on the rocking lever to maintain the rocking lever in itsstable position, corresponding to the disengaged position of the clickfrom the ratchet wheel, said rocking lever being operatively connectedto said control member whereby, upon the control member being displacedfrom said stable position thereof to said unstable position thereof, therocking lever is moved against the action of the elastic element fromits stable position to its unstable position, and guide means associatedwith the rocking lever to cause the rocking lever to carry out duringsuch movement thereof both a translatory motion to enable the click toengage with the ratchet wheel and an angular motion to enable the clickto move the ratchet wheel forward one step.

3. A time-piece according to claim 1, wherein the non positive couplingis a magnetic coupling.

4. A time-piece according to claim 1, wherein said ratchet wheel actsdirectly on said seconds wheel.

5. A time-piece according to claim 1, wherein said click-actuating meanscomprise a winding stem axially movable between a stable, winding,position and an inner unstable position, a setting lever actuated by thewinding stem, a monostable rocking lever actuatable by said settinglever and carrying said click, an elastic element acting on the rockinglever to maintain the rocking lever'in its stable position,corresponding to the disengaged position of the click from the ratchetwheel and to said stable, winding, position of the stem, and guide meansassociated with the rocking lever to cause the rocking lever to carryout while being moved from its stable position to its unstable positionboth a translatory motion to enable the click to engage with the ratchetwheel and an angular motion to enable the click to move the ratchetwheel forward one step.

6. A time-piece according to claim 1, comprising an intermediate secondswheel drivingly connected with said first-mentioned seconds wheel and afurther seconds wheel in said gear-train and wherein said non positivecoupling is disposed between said intermediate seconds wheel and saidfurther seconds wheel.

7. A time-piece according to claim 4, wherein said ratchet wheel isfixed to said intermediate seconds wheel.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION PATENT NO.3,762,156 DATED October 2, 1973 INVENTOR(S) Cyril Vuilleumier It iscertified that error appears in the above-identified patent and thatsaid Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below:

On the first page of the patent, in the left-hand column after theapplication number insert Foreign Application Priority Data January 27,1972 Switzerland 0.0. 1231/72o Signed and Scaled this I Twen -sixth a 0[SEAL] y D y f October 1976 A nest:

RUTH C. MASON Commissioner ofPatents and Trademarks UNITED STATES PATENTOFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION PATENT NO. 3 762 156 DATED October 2,1973 INVENIOR S Cyril Vuilleumier It is certified that error appears inthe above-identified patent and that said Letters Patent are herebycorrected as shown below:

On the first page of the patent, in the left-hand column after theapplication number insert Foreign Application Priority Data January 27,1972 Switzerland 0.0.. 1231/72,

Signed and Scaled this Twenty-sixth Day of October 1976 [SEAL] A nest:

RUTH C. MASON Commissioner oj'Palenls and Trademarks

1. A time-piece comprising a power driven gear train, a seconds wheeldriven by said gear train and having a staff arranged to carry a secondshand, a non positive coupling between the gear train and said secondswheel, and a control mechanism for controlling the seconds hand via saidseconds wheel and including a ratchet wheel drivingly associated withsaid seconds wheel, a click arranged to cooperate with the ratchet wheeland externally operable click actuating means for causing the click tomove the seconds hand clockwise, via the ratchet wheel and the secondswheel, by a step additional to its normal motion, whereby at least onerapid operation of said means will cause the seconds hand to moveforward faster than its normal movement and a single prolonged operationof said means will cause the seconds hand to be held up and retarded. 2.A time-piece according to claim 1, wherein said click-actuating meanscomprise a control member located externally of the time-piece andarranged for displacement between a stable position and an unstableposition, a monostable rocking lever carrying said click, an elasticelement acting on the rocking lever to maintain the rocking lever in itsstable position, corresponding to the disengaged position of the clickfrom the ratchet wheel, said rocking lever being operatively connectedto said control member whereby, upon the control member being displacedfrom said stable position thereof to said unstable position thereof, therocking lever is moved against the action of the elastic element fromits stable position to its unstable position, and guide means associatedwith the rocking lever to cause the rocking lever to carry out duringsuch movement thereof both a translatory motion to enable the click toengage with the ratchet wheel and an angular motion to enable the clickto move the ratchet wheel forward one step.
 3. A time-piece according toclaim 1, wherein the non positive coupling is a magnetic coupling.
 4. Atime-piEce according to claim 1, wherein said ratchet wheel actsdirectly on said seconds wheel.
 5. A time-piece according to claim 1,wherein said click-actuating means comprise a winding stem axiallymovable between a stable, winding, position and an inner unstableposition, a setting lever actuated by the winding stem, a monostablerocking lever actuatable by said setting lever and carrying said click,an elastic element acting on the rocking lever to maintain the rockinglever in its stable position, corresponding to the disengaged positionof the click from the ratchet wheel and to said stable, winding,position of the stem, and guide means associated with the rocking leverto cause the rocking lever to carry out while being moved from itsstable position to its unstable position both a translatory motion toenable the click to engage with the ratchet wheel and an angular motionto enable the click to move the ratchet wheel forward one step.
 6. Atime-piece according to claim 1, comprising an intermediate secondswheel drivingly connected with said first-mentioned seconds wheel and afurther seconds wheel in said gear-train and wherein said non positivecoupling is disposed between said intermediate seconds wheel and saidfurther seconds wheel.
 7. A time-piece according to claim 4, whereinsaid ratchet wheel is fixed to said intermediate seconds wheel.